From lemons to lemonade

By MICHELLE SAHLIEH / Buena Vista University student

Shay Kelley is her name, and she is from my hometown: Denver, Colorado. She traveled across all 50 states in 50 weeks and collected canned goods for homeless people after she lost her marketing job, her house and her car. Talk about making lemonade out of lemons!

Her goal was to collect 200 cans a week. By the end of the year that would be 10,000 canned food items.

She met quite a few great people along her journey. "That was the first week when I learned the people with the least tend to give the most," Kelley said after a man had invited her to lunch to give her a hot meal. Only after they had eaten did she find out that he was homeless himself.

I think that what Kelley did is extremely amazing. She made the best out of her situation. Instead of giving up, being selfish, or money hungry, she did the exact opposite. She found a way to give back.

She went above and beyond what we normally do for people.

Usually, we will donate a couple cans to a food drive or maybe some clothing to a clothing drive, but this woman dedicated her year to traveling and collecting food for other people. It's not like she was going around looking for food for herself so she could get by, she was helping others and being generous.

Honestly, I wish I could do something like this. I think that it takes a lot of strength for someone to move past such things as losing your career and your house and still making something good come of it.

It amazes me that she still has her faith. "I went off into the woods and I started yelling at God," she says. "I didn't know why God would lead me up to this point in my life just to have me left with nothing."

I love that she still continues to send the message, "I just hope that people who are in really rough situations will realize that God didn't forget about them. God is just trying to prepare them for something even bigger, even greater and even more blessed than they can even imagine."

It shows the kind of character that she has. She got knocked down, and she got right back up and made her situation even better. She didn't just sit and pout, she got out and did something, and in that she made other peoples' situations better.

*Young Voices is a Pilot-Tribune feature showcasing the opinion writing of area high school and college-age writers. To submit, write to Young Voice, Pilot-Tribune, P.O. Box 1178, Storm Lake, 50588, or email in care of letters@stormlakepilottribune.com